[pelliott321]

Frank, you had mentioned awhile ago that you were going to try to get a couple of Paul's autoformers, and see how they worked with your ultravalve and some low impedance speakers.  Did you get anywhere with this

[Vulcan00]

I was interested in this also. My thoughts were a pair of Ultravaves used with my Ultra Ec pre-amp driving my HT2-TL (4ohm) speakers.

[pelliott321]

I sent an e-mail to Paul Speltz to see what his return policy is

[Wayner]

I was interested in this also. My thoughts were a pair of Ultravaves used with my Ultra Ec pre-amp driving my HT2-TL (4ohm) speakers.

There are 4, 8 and 16 ohm taps on the Ultravalve now.

Wayner

[rlee8394]

Wayner,

A pair of Ultravalves would imply that Vulcan00 would be bridging them, and that would theoretically require a 4 ohm speaker to be connected across 2 ohm taps. This is where the  autoformers would come in.

Ron

[avahifi]

I did evaluate Paul's autoformers and they do work very well.

However the catch is that by the time you pay for the Ultravalve and a set of autoformers to allow useful performance into a 2 ohm load, you have now paid a lot more than a 200 watt per channel Ultra 350 or 300 watt per channel Ultra 550 amplifier would cost, and both of these will have no problems with low impedance loads, and provide musical performance the equal of the Ultravalve.

Thus I don't think the autoformer route is the most cost effective way to better music with inefficient speakers.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[Vulcan00]

Thank you Mr. Alstine,

That answer is basically were my head is now. Why my thoughts were swayed comes from the "tube sound" is the best audio sound. I use a tube amp with my electric guitar and I love it. However i do have to deal with all the unwanted by-products, noise, etc.

I run a Ultra EC and a good Solid State pre through a SS amp. I can say without pause if I am looking for the most musical satisfying sound I use the Ultra EC (tube pre).

So i guess thats why i thought two Ultravalves would give me the power and "tube sound" I wrongly or rightly searching for.

In the end I think what I really should settle on is transparent, dynamic and accurate sound of a good SS amp without dealing with the costs of tubes.

[trebejo]

The thing is that in the Fet Valve amps that Frank makes, you get a couple of tubes anyway.